Posted by Krista Paul
The TripDoor (dba Travelfli) had our weekly meeting with David Cohen yesterday and it went very well. He commended us on tightening our focus over the first three weeks of TechStars and surmised that focus will probably be one of our biggest challenges this summer (we concur). He also made some great points that we are taking into account as we develop the registration flow on the new site.
In order for our tools to work most effectively, we need a certain amount of information from our users (including mile program information and where they want to go). He suggested that people will probably be way more interested in giving us their “Wish Lists’ for places they want to go rather than providing us with all of the tedious information concerning their frequent flyer accounts. We need both.
His advice left us thinking about how we can create a very easy registration process that will also capture just enough information so we are able to demonstrate the value of our tools to our users, thus compelling them to give us additional information so we can help them use miles more effectively.
This brings me to the million dollar question: if you’re landing on my site, what would it take for you to provide me with even a single frequent flyer account number to start tracking in our tool? Have most people memorized at least one number? David has committed at least two numbers to memory (United and American) and will recite them freely when prompted. Likewise, we also ran into Jared Polis late night in the bunker, and he too could recite on the spot at least two of his major frequent flyer accounts. Is this normal or are these two just number guys? On the flip side, Brad Feld keeps a little card in his wallet that has all of his frequent flyer numbers jotted down on it. It seems like most people have some weird way of remembering their numbers – but of course they still don’t really know what to do with all of the miles they’re accumulating.
If remembering at least one number is commonplace, then we might consider asking for it during registration. If not, then we might make it optional and go straight to the fun question: where do you want to go?
Let us know how YOU remember your frequent flyer information!
